Morphometric Differentiation AmongAnastrepha fraterculus(Diptera: Tephritidae) Exploiting Sympatric Alternate Hosts

Abstract

Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) is currently considered a complex of cryptic species infesting fruits from Mexico to Argentina and represents an interesting biological model for evolutionary studies. Moreover, detecting and quantifying behavioral, morphological, and genetic differentiation among populations is also relevant to the application of environment-friendly control programs. Here, phenotypic differentiation among individuals coexisting in the wild in a Northern region of Argentina was unveiled and associated with host choice. Six morphometric traits were measured in sympatric flies exploiting three different host species. Phenotypic variation was shown to be host-dependent regardless of geographical or temporal overlap. Flies collected from synchronous alternate hosts (peach and walnut) differed from each other despite the lack of geographical isolation. By contrast, flies emerging from guavas that ripen about two months later than peach and walnut showed no significant differentiation in comparison to flies collected from walnuts, but they differ significantly from flies originating from peaches. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that the same population of flies shifts from walnuts to guavas throughout the year, whereas the population of flies that uses peaches as a host is probably exploiting other alternate hosts when peach availability decreases. Further research is needed to study the underlying mechanism. Results are consistent with previous molecular markers (inter-simple sequence repeat-ISSR) research on flies stemming from the same hosts and the same area, suggesting that differentiation among flies emerging from alternative hosts occurs at both genetic and phenotypic levels. The contribution of host preference in long-term genetic differentiation is discussed.

Phenotypic Structure of Colombian Populations ofAnastrepha fraterculusComplex (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…In Argentina, sympatric population of A. fraterculus showed microdifferentiation due to host use, which was revealed in morphometric and genetic variability (Gómez-Cendra et al 2016). Colombian populations of the Andean morphotype of this species show microevolutionary processes like Argentinian populations; however, Colombian populations are allopatric.…”

Morphological variation and strain identification of insects using wings and I3S

“…Gomez-Cendra et al (2016) found that it was not geographical distance that affected the wing morphology of their fruit flies, but the host fruit available to the flies, those feeding on the same fruit had similar wing morphology no matter how far apart they lived. Using molecular markers and noting phenotypic differentiation, Gomez-Cendra et al (2016) reported that flies collected from and feeding on peaches or walnuts differed genetically and in appearance from each other regardless of geographical or temporal overlap. Yi Bai found that the grasshopper species Trilophidia annulata followed the Bergmann rule where individuals from higher, cooler latitudes with longer growing seasons were larger in size (using wing length as a measure) than individuals from the lower, warmer latitudes (Yi Bai et al 2016).…”

“…The wing morphology of two sibling Drosophila species was influenced by the different host plants (cactus) they fed on (Carreira et al 2006;Soto et al 2008Soto et al & 2010. Gomez-Cendra et al (2016) found that it was not geographical distance that affected the wing morphology of their fruit flies, but the host fruit available to the flies, those feeding on the same fruit had similar wing morphology no matter how far apart they lived. Using molecular markers and noting phenotypic differentiation, Gomez-Cendra et al (2016) reported that flies collected from and feeding on peaches or walnuts differed genetically and in appearance from each other regardless of geographical or temporal overlap.…”

Utilização diferencial de frutos hospedeiros por Anastrepha sp. 1 affinis fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae): aspectos morfológicos e reprodutivos

“…Número de fêmeas e machos emergidos (♀♀, ♂♂). Selivon et al 2004Selivon et al , 2005aSelivon et al , 2005bCha et al 2012;Powel et al 2014;De Meyer et al 2015;Gomes-Cendra et al 2016;Ragland et al 2016).…”

“…Essa variação morfológica proporcionou um considerável nível de discriminação entre os indivíduos criados em diferentes plantas hospedeiras, principalmente os provenientes de goiaba. Esses resultados vão de acordo com os encontrados por Gomes-Cendra et al (2016), que analisaram seis medidas morfométricas (sendo duas medidas da asa) de A. sp.1 provenientes de três diferentes hospedeiros (goiaba, noz e pêssego) coletados em simpatria, na região norte da Argentina. Vários estudos também detectaram plasticidade fenotípica associada ao hospedeiro em outros grupos de insetos, alguns exemplos são a mariposa Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Mozaffarian et al 2007), as moscas dos cactos Drosophila gouveai e D.…”